1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of devices for binding an article of footwear to a gliding apparatus.
The invention is more particularly related to a device for binding an article of footwear to a gliding apparatus, such as a ski, snowshoe, ice skate, or roller skate, etc., and, more specifically, to a device for binding a cross-country ski boot to a corresponding ski.
2. Description of Background and Relevant Information
Bindings of the type to which the invention is directed, in every instance, include a locking mechanism adapted to cooperate with a connecting member of the article of footwear, and a user-manipulable system for controlling the opening mechanism.
The locking mechanism can be of very varied types, so can the corresponding connecting member of the article of footwear.
In numerous binding devices, especially for cross-country, touring, or telemark skis, the connecting member of the boot is constituted of a connecting axle, which is adapted to be lodged in a jaw. Such a system is disclosed, for example, in the patent documents FR-2 638 974, FR-2 645 764, FR-2 834 473, FR-2 742 060, FR-2 856 312, FR-2 738 158, EP-551 899, EP-904 139, and in family members U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,710; U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,620; U.S. Pat. No. 6,811,177; US-200410262886; U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,963; U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,053; U.S. Pat. No. 6,027,135.
In other devices, the connecting member of the article of footwear, hereafter “boot” or “shoe,” is constituted of two parts: either two parallel connecting axles, as disclosed in EP-679 415, FR-2 853 253, FR-2 843 310, WO 01/93963, and in family members U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,941; US-2004/0056449; U.S. Pat. No. 6,986,526, or a front-end stop and a rear catching latch, as disclosed in FR-2 776 200, FR-2 733 159, EP-1 100 601, DE-10 2004 018 296, and in family members U.S. Pat. No. 6,435,537; U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,478; U.S. Pat. No. 6,644,683.
Other devices are disclosed, for example, in the document EP-1 492 598.
All of the aforementioned devices include a locking mechanism provided with at least one movable element adapted to cooperate with the connecting member of the boot. This movable element can be moved from an active position, in which it carries out the locking between the connecting member and the binding device, to an unlocking position, in which it allows the connecting member, and thus also the boot, to be separated from the binding device.
Some of the known binding devices are of the “step-in” type (also referred to as semi-automatic or self-locking) inasmuch as they allow locking the connecting member to the binding device without any other action from the user than that of bringing the connecting member closer to the binding device and exerting a certain force to trigger the locking. In most cases, self-locking is triggered by the interaction of the connecting member (or another part of the boot) with a corresponding element of the binding device. Some devices require bringing the binding in an open state (by means of a distinct operation, most of the time manual), the interaction triggering only the closure of the locking mechanism (c.f. for example, EP-1 100 601). In other devices, the locking mechanism is in a closed state and the interaction triggers the opening of the mechanism, which then closes itself back automatically, generally due to the action of an elastic member (c.f. for example FR-2 645 764).
In other devices, the user must carry out a specific opening and closing operation for both putting on and taking off the boot.
In every instance, however, the locking mechanisms include an opening system that allows the user to control the mechanism towards its open state (or unlocked state) in order to enable the user to free the boot, at will and with a reasonable amount of force, from the binding device. The opening system (generally a lever, a pull rod or a button) must therefore be brought from a first to a second position to trigger the unlocking. The user manipulates this system either by hand or with the help of an accessory, such as a ski pole, for example. This manipulation could be a two-step manipulation with a pre-opening (consisting, for example, in triggering the lifting of a prehension member), then an actual opening (consisting in manipulating the prehension member previously updated). In the prior art, for a given opening system, the opening position is always the same and the manipulation direction of the opening system to trigger the unlocking is always the same.
For various reasons, due, especially, to size, weight and reliability considerations and to the necessity of not allowing an ill-timed opening of the binding device, opening systems are not always purely ergonomic or even substantially ergonomic in most situations, and are not sufficiently ergonomic in situations in which the user is placed.
Indeed, in the case of bindings adapted for use by children, the system can sometimes be rather child-friendly for the child using the binding device, but not easily usable by another person, for example an adult wanting to help the child unlock the binding system. In other cases, the binding system can be particularly difficult to manipulate by its user when the user has fallen and is trying to release, whereas when used normally, the system gives complete satisfaction.